Morning routines are important for both children and adults. Research shows that routines and family stability help children manage their own time and focus their attention better. Plus, children learn responsibility, independence, and good habits for later in life.
Given the importance of morning routines for kids, the team at Sawyer wanted to provide you with the information you need to establish them in your own house. Use these tips to help you establish a great morning routine for school and the weekend as well as for toddlers who are not heading out of the house yet.
Morning routine for kids
Morning routine for school
Set your child up for academic success by establishing a good morning routine for school. While it might be beneficial to set this up when they are preparing to go back to school after the summer, you do not need to wait until a new year. Instead, you can establish this routine after time off for a break or even a weekend.
However, we do not recommend attempting to teach them a new morning routine during the morning. You want your child to feel calm, comfortable, and confident before leaving for school. Here are some tips to help you establish a morning routine for school that will help both you and your child feel great before heading out the door (or logging onto Zoom).
- Prepare at night. You can accomplish a lot the night before, which will help you check things off before the morning even comes. Make sure lunch is packed, homework is done, breakfast is planned, and clothes are laid out so the morning is a breeze. Check out 10 quick lunch recipes in case you are looking for inspiration for that sack lunch!
- Create a checklist. Work together with your child to build a checklist that they can refer to each morning. Make sure you include brushing teeth and hair, getting dressed, eating breakfast, double checking their backpack, and turning off the lights. If they have any chores that need to be done before school, like making their bed, add that to the list, too.
- Eat a simple breakfast. Research shows that children who have breakfast focus, retain information, and perform academically better than children who do not. Provide simple breakfast options to your child so they can grab and go. Oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and toast with peanut butter are great choices.
- For online school, add some outdoor time. If your child is attending online school, make time in their morning routine to take a quick walk outside and get some fresh air. Children need to be outdoors and they miss that time if they go straight from the breakfast table to the laptop for Zoom classes.
For more morning routine ideas for school, see our full guide.
Weekend morning routine
Even though you likely do not need to get out the door at a certain time for school, setting up a weekend morning routine for your children is still important. Children thrive with consistency so keeping a sense of your routine on Saturday and Sunday can help them feel more comfortable and confident for their extracurricular activities, sports, and just in general. Here are some tips to help you build a great weekend morning routine for kids.
- Keep it similar to your regular routine. If you have older children, they will likely want to sleep in on the weekend. And that’s ok! Most adults want to sleep in, too. However, establishing a weekend morning routine means that they should be awake by a certain time so that they don’t spend the whole day sleeping. This is a good habit to form early on.
- Make weekend mornings fun. Establish traditions with your children to get them excited about weekend mornings. You can cook breakfast as a family or go out to eat at a favorite brunch place. You can go on a family walk with the dog or head to the playground early to get the best swings. Whatever it is, make sure your children are incentivized to wake up and get started with their day.
- Add chores to the routine. The weekend is a good time to get your child involved in household chores. It might not be the most glamorous part of their day, but chores are beneficial for kids. They teach children to be more responsible and independent, plus they are important for their development and future life experiences. By including chores in the weekend morning routine, you avoid a potential fight with your child.
Toddler morning routine
How do you establish a routine for a toddler? They often have erratic sleep schedules, usually wake up way too early, and if they are not in daycare or preschool, then they don’t have anywhere to go! Never fear, you can still establish a great toddler morning routine, which will help you both have more successful mornings.
- Create a wake up rule. Young children might wake up too early and as a result, wake you, too. To combat this, teach your child how to read a digital clock and say they have to stay in bed until at least 7am. Then, they can get you. If they wake up before 7am, they have to stay in bed and play quietly.
- Use a routine chart. Even though your toddler might not be able to read, you can still set up a morning routine checklist that they can follow. Just use a chart with pictures instead of words! Highlight brushing their teeth and hair, picking out clothes, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and packing their bag so they know what to do each morning.
- Go over the plan with them the night before and in the morning. Toddlers love to be involved. Therefore, you should spend time the night before talking to them about what they should expect the next day. Then, in the morning when you wake up, go over the plan once more. Walk them through it as you check off each item and soon they will be able to do these tasks on their own (with your supervision).
By establishing strong morning routines for kids, you and your child should start to feel more relaxed, excited, and confident about the day ahead. At Sawyer, our goal is to help children discover their own love of learning. Waking up on the right side of the bed is important to experiencing the wonder and excitement of school as well as extracurricular activities. Here’s to a good night’s sleep and even better morning!
